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Friday, February 17, 2017

The Hidden Black Iraq

Basra's more than the center of Iraq's oil industry; it's the center of a centuries-old history of African influence.

Image source: The New York Times


(Source:AlterNet
 
There has been a black presence in Basra -- present-day Southern Iraq -- as early as the 7th century, when Abu Bakra, an Ethiopian soldier who had been manumitted by the prophet Muhammad himself, settled in the city. His descendants became prominent members of Basran society. A century later, the writer Jahiz of Basra wrote an impassioned defense of black Africans -- referred to in Arabic as the Zanj -- against accusations of inferiority which had begun to take root even then.

The Zanj, who were primarily persons of East African descent, were to have a significant impact upon Iraqi history. They had been traded from ports along the African coast (Zanzibar, which is derived from the term "Zanj," was a major slave exporting center during the era) to clear salt marshes. Laboring in miserable, humid conditions, the Zanj workers dug up layers of topsoil and dragged away tons of earth to plant labor-intensive crops like sugarcane on the less saline soil below. Fed scant portions of flour, semolina and dates, they were constantly in conflict with the Iraqi slave system. Between the 7th and 9th centuries, the Zanj staged three rebellions, the largest of which occurred between 868 and 883 AD.


Read more: http://www.alternet.org/story/17339/the_hidden_black_iraq

Also, check out this article in the New York Times about Iraq's current black population, and how color-blind policies play a part in their suffering. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/world/middleeast/03basra.html